BILL NUMBER: AB 644	CHAPTERED  07/07/00

	CHAPTER   95
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   JULY 7, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   JULY 6, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   JUNE 22, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   JUNE 15, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 12, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MAY 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   SEPTEMBER 2, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 26, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 18, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 19, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ducheny

                        FEBRUARY 23, 1999

   An act to amend Sections 19356.6 and 19356.7 of, and to amend and
repeal Section 19355.5 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to habilitation services, making an appropriation therefor,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 644, Ducheny.  Habilitation services.
   Existing law establishes the Habilitation Services Program,
administered by the Department of Rehabilitation, under which
supported employment and other services are provided to persons with
developmental disabilities.
   Under existing law, the $27.50 hourly rate established for the
1999-2000 fiscal year for supported employment services must be
reduced by the percentage necessary to ensure that projected total
General Fund expenditures and reimbursements for habilitation
services and vocational rehabilitation supported employment services
do not exceed the General Fund and reimbursement appropriations for
these services in the Budget Act of 1999.
   This bill would revise the implementation date of this provision,
would delete the reference to the 1999-2000 fiscal year, would
exclude increases in job coach hours in certain circumstances, would
specify procedures for implementation of this provision, and would
repeal the provision January 1, 2004.
   Under existing law, certain Habilitation Services Program
ratesetting provisions would become inoperative on July 1, 2000.
   This bill would extend the operative dates of these provisions
until September 1, 2003, and would make various changes in
ratesetting provisions pertaining to supported employment services.
   This bill would appropriate $3,254,000 from the General Fund and
$1,564,000 from the Federal Trust Fund for supported employment
services under this program provided during the 1999-2000 fiscal
year.
  This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting
this act, to fund a current-year deficiency resulting from
expenditures in excess of Budget Act of 1999 appropriations and
reimbursements for habilitation services and vocational
rehabilitation supported employment services.  It is the further
intent of the Legislature to amend supported employment reimbursement
rate provisions to control supported employment costs and eliminate
excess expenditures resulting from unregulated changes in the number
of clients in group placement, payments for clients not funded by the
Department of Rehabilitation, and for other inefficiencies.
   (b) The Legislature finds and declares that this act is necessary
because Section 19355.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code requires
a rate reduction in order to avoid a deficiency.
  SEC. 2.  Section 19355.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   19355.5.  (a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
effective July 1,  2000, the twenty-seven dollar and fifty cent
($27.50) hourly rate for supported employment services established
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 19356.6 shall
be reduced by the percentage necessary to ensure that projected
total General Fund expenditures and reimbursements for habilitation
services and vocational rehabilitation supported employment services,
including services pursuant to paragraph (2) of, and clauses (i) to
(iii), inclusive, of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of,
subdivision (b) of Section 19356.6, and, for the habilitation
services program only, ancillary services, based on Budget Act
caseload projections, do not exceed the General Fund and
reimbursement appropriations for these services in the annual Budget
Act, exclusive of increases in job coach hours due to unanticipated
increases in caseload or the average client workday.  This reduction
shall not be implemented sooner than 30 days after notification in
writing of the necessity for the reduction to the appropriate fiscal
committees and policy committees of the Legislature and the
Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or not sooner
than whatever lesser time the chairperson of the joint committee, or
his or her designee, may in each instance determine.
   (b) The department shall annually make three projections of
General Fund expenditures and reimbursements, which shall be based on
invoices for supported employment services received by October 5,
January 5, and April 5 of each fiscal year, respectively, and
projections shall be submitted to the Department of Finance no later
than 30 days after these dates.  The projected expenditures shall be
based on the number of job coach hours for which the state has been
billed and projected caseload growth, including change in the average
client workday.
   (c) This section shall not be implemented until the Department of
Finance certifies to the Legislature that the Department of
Rehabilitation is able to compile and provide timely data on job
coach hours, group size, and average client workday in the supported
employment program.
   (d) This section shall become inoperative on September 1, 2003,
and as of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2004, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

  SEC. 3.  Section 19356.6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   19356.6.  (a) The definitions contained in this subdivision shall
govern the construction of this section, with respect to services
provided through the Habilitation Services Program, and unless the
context requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Supported employment" means paid work that is integrated in
the community for individuals with developmental disabilities whose
vocational disability is so severe that they would be unable to
achieve this employment without specialized services and would not be
able to retain this employment without an appropriate level of
ongoing postemployment support services.
   (2) "Integrated work" means the engagement of an employee with a
disability in work in a setting typically found in the community in
which individuals interact with nondisabled individuals other than
those who are providing services to those individuals, to the same
extent that nondisabled individuals in comparable positions interact
with other persons.
   (3) "Supported employment placement" means the employment of an
individual with a developmental disability by an employer in the
community, directly or through contract with a supported employment
program, and the provision of supported employment services including
the provision of ongoing postemployment services necessary for the
individual to retain employment.  Services for those individuals
receiving individualized services from a supported employment program
shall decrease as the individual adjusts to his or her employment
and the employer assumes many of those functions.
   (4) "Allowable supported employment services" means the services
approved in the individual habilitation component and provided, to
the extent allowed by the Habilitation Services Program for the
purpose of achieving supported employment as an outcome for
individuals with developmental disabilities, which may include any of
the following:
   (A) Program staff time spent conducting job analysis of supported
employment opportunities for a specific consumer.
   (B) Program staff time spent in the direct supervision or training
of a consumer or consumers while they engage in integrated work
unless other arrangements for consumer supervision, such as employer
supervision reimbursed by the supported employment program, are
approved by the Habilitation Services Program.
   (C) Training occurring in the community, in adaptive functional
and social skills necessary to ensure job adjustment and retention
such as social skills, money management, and independent travel.
   (D) Counseling with a consumer's significant others to ensure
support of a consumer in job adjustment.
   (E) Advocacy or intervention on behalf of a consumer to resolve
problems affecting the consumer's work adjustment or retention.
   (F) Job development to the extent authorized by the Habilitation
Services Program.
   (G) Ongoing postemployment support services needed to ensure the
consumer's retention of the job.
   (5) "Group services" means job coach-supported employment services
in a group supported employment placement at a job coach-to-client
ratio of not less than one-to-three nor more than one-to-eight where
a minimum of three clients are department-funded.
   (6) "Individualized services" means job coach and other supported
employment services for department-funded clients in a supported
employment placement at a job coach-to-client ratio of one-to-one.
   (b) (1) The Habilitation Services Program shall set rates for
supported employment services provided in accordance with this
section.  The Habilitation Services Program shall apply rates in
accordance with this section to those work-activity programs or
program components of work-activity programs approved by the
department to provide supported employment and to new programs or
components approved by the Habilitation Services Program to provide
supported employment services.  Both of these categories of programs
or components shall be required to comply with the criteria set forth
in subdivision (b) of Section 19356.7 to receive approval from the
Habilitation Services Program.
   (2) (A) The hourly rate for supported employment services provided
to clients receiving individualized services shall be twenty-seven
dollars and fifty cents ($27.50).
   (B) The hourly rate for group services shall be twenty-seven
dollars and fifty cents ($27.50) regardless of the number of clients
served in the group.  Clients in a group shall be scheduled to start
and end work at the same time, unless an exception is approved in
advance by the Habilitation Services Program.  The department, in
consultation with stakeholders, shall adopt regulations to define the
appropriate grounds for granting these exceptions.  Where the number
of clients in a group supported employment placement drops to fewer
than three department-funded clients, the program provider shall,
within 90 days from the date of this occurrence and consistent with
Section 19356.7, do one of the following:
   (i) Add one or more department-funded clients to the group.
   (ii) Move the remaining clients to another existing group.
   (iii) Move the remaining clients, if appropriate, to
individualized placement.
   (iv) Terminate services.
   (C) For clients receiving group services the Habilitation Services
Program may set a higher hourly rate for supported employment
services, based upon the additional cost to provide ancillary
services, when there is a documented and demonstrated need for a
higher rate because of the nature and severity of the disabilities of
the consumer, as determined by the Habilitation Services Program.
   (D) In addition, fees shall be authorized for the following:
   (i) A two hundred dollar ($200) fee shall be paid upon intake of a
consumer into an agency's supported employment program, unless that
individual has completed a supported employment intake process with
that same agency within the past 12 months, in which case no fee
shall be paid.
   (ii) A four hundred dollar ($400) fee shall be paid upon placement
of an individual in an integrated job, unless that individual is
placed with another consumer or consumers assigned to the same job
coach during the same hours of employment, in which case no fee shall
be paid.
   (iii) A four hundred dollar ($400) fee shall be paid after a
90-day retention of a consumer in a job, unless that individual has
been placed with another consumer or consumers, assigned to the same
job coach during the same hours of employment, in which case no fee
shall be paid.
   (3) These rates shall take effect July 1, 1998.
   (4) It is the intent of the Legislature that, commencing July 1,
1996, the department establish rates for both habilitation services
and vocational rehabilitation supported employment services pursuant
to this section.
   (5) For individuals receiving individualized services, services
may be provided on or off the jobsite.
   (6) For individuals receiving group services, ancillary services
may be provided, except that all postemployment and ancillary
services shall be provided at the worksite.
   (c) If a consumer has been placed on a waiting list for vocational
rehabilitation as a result of the department's order of selection
regulations, the Habilitation Services Program may pay for those
supported employment services leading to job development set forth in
subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).
   (d) The Habilitation Services Program shall approve, in advance,
any change in the number of clients served in a group.
   (e) The department, in consultation with appropriate stakeholders,
shall report to the Department of Finance and the Legislature, on or
before January 1, 2001, and annually thereafter, on the
implementation of supported employment rates and group size
requirements pursuant to this section.  The report shall include, but
not be limited to, data on the sizes of client groups, the change in
average group size, client outcomes, client earnings, to the extent
available, and projected caseload and expenditures for the supported
employment program.  On or before February 1, 2003, the department
shall submit to the Department of Finance and the Legislature a final
report containing, at a minimum, cumulative data and outcome
measures, and shall include recommendations on whether to extend the
effective dates of this section and Sections 19355.5, 19355.6, and
19356.7, and recommendations for appropriate changes to those
sections.
   (f) This section shall become inoperative on September 1, 2003,
and, as of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2004, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
  SEC. 4.  Section 19356.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   19356.7.  (a) Proposals for funding of new, and modifications to
existing, supported employment programs and components by the
Habilitation Services Program shall be submitted to the Habilitation
Services Program and shall contain sufficient information to enable
the Habilitation Services Program to act on the proposal under this
section.
   (b) Provided that sufficient funding is available to finance
services by supported employment programs and components, the
Habilitation Services Program may approve or disapprove proposals
based on all of the following criteria:
   (1) The need for a supported employment program or component.
   (2) The capacity of the program to deliver supported employment
services effectively.
   (3) The ability of the program to comply with accreditation
requirements of the Habilitation Services Program.  The accreditation
standards adopted by the department shall be the standards developed
by the Commission of Rehabilitation Facilities and published in the
most current edition of the Standards Manual for Organizations
Serving People with Disabilities, as well as any subsequent
amendments to the manual.
   (4) A profile of an average consumer in the program or component,
showing the planned progress toward self-reliance as an employee,
measured, as appropriate, in terms of decreasing support services.
   (5) The ability of the program to achieve integrated paid work on
the average for consumers served.
   (c) The Habilitation Services Program may purchase supported
employment services at the rates authorized in Section 19356.6 only
from supported employment programs or components approved under this
section.
   (d) For purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of the entire
program, and individual supported employment programs or components,
the Habilitation Services Program may monitor supported employment
programs or components to determine whether the performance agreed
upon in the approved proposal is being achieved.  When the
performance of a supported employment program or component does not
comply with the criteria according to which it was approved for
funding pursuant to subdivision (b), the Habilitation Services
Program may establish prospective performance criteria for the
program or component, with which the program or component shall
comply as a condition of continued funding.
   (e) The department shall adopt regulations to implement the
requirements of Sections 19352, 19356.6, and this section, in
consultation with the California Rehabilitation Association, the
United Cerebral Palsy Association, and the Association of Retarded
Citizens of California.
   (f) This section shall become inoperative on September 1, 2003,
and, as of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2004, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
  SEC. 5.  (a) There is hereby appropriated the sum of four million
eight hundred eighteen thousand dollars ($4,818,000) to the
Department of Rehabilitation, as follows, for the purposes specified
in subdivision (b):
   (1) Three million two hundred fifty-four thousand dollars
($3,254,000) from the General Fund.
   (2) One million five hundred sixty-four thousand dollars
($1,564,000) from the Federal Trust Fund.
   (b) Funds appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be used
for the cost of supported employment services provided for pursuant
to Section 19356.6 provided during the 1999-2000 fiscal year.
  SEC. 6.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   By immediately funding the Habilitation Services Program
deficiency identified in Section 1 of this act, this act prevents a
major reduction in the 1999-2000 fiscal year hourly reimbursement
rate for supported employment services for adults with developmental
disabilities that would otherwise be implemented pursuant to Section
19355.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.  In addition, this act,
by establishing new measures to control expenditures for supported
employment services, would ensure the fiscal integrity of the
program.  In order, therefore, to avoid a major disruption in
supported employment services during the 1999-2000 fiscal year, and
to ensure that the fiscal integrity of that program is maintained at
the earliest possible time, it is necessary that this act go into
immediate effect.
